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Top Amazon India executive questioned by police over Tandav

Top Amazon India executive questioned by police over Tandav

The show has been criticised for hurting religious sentiment.
24 Feb, 2021

Indian police in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh questioned a top Amazon executive for nearly four hours on Tuesday over allegations that one of its political dramas on Prime Video hurt religious sentiments and caused public anger.

Shows on streaming platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime have often faced complaints in India, a key growth market, for obscenity or hurting sentiment, but the latest controversy involving the Amazon show Tandav is among the highest-profile cases.

Tandav, a political drama starring top Bollywood actors, has in several states faced police complaints and court cases alleging the show had depicted Hindu gods and goddesses in a derogatory manner, and hurt religious sentiment.

The drama has also faced criticism from lawmakers of India’s Hindu nationalist ruling party.

In Uttar Pradesh, police questioned Amazon India’s head of original content for its Prime streaming service Aparna Purohit over similar allegations at a police station on Tuesday.

Amazon declined to comment, and Purohit did not take questions from reporters outside the police station.

A state police officer told Reuters that Purohit had told police an apology had been issued and scenes that concerned the public had been edited out after its release in January.

While the show has angered some, the complaints against the drama and Purohit’s questioning by police have also caused grave concerns among India’s vibrant film industry, where many see this as an attack on free speech.

One Bollywood producer criticised police action on Tuesday, saying such incidents were unnerving.

“You never know when you will be next in line for a scene that you never thought would be offensive,” said the producer, who declined to be named.

Amazon is separately facing the ire of small retailers in India, who have called for a ban on its operations.

Reuters last week reported that the U.S. firm had for years given preferential treatment to a small group of sellers on its India platform and used them to circumvent the country's strict foreign investment regulations.

Amazon has denied any wrongdoing and said it complies with Indian law.

Comments

Tamza Feb 24, 2021 11:26am
Blasphemy in any form should be protested.
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Sane Mind1st Feb 24, 2021 11:27am
CREATIVITY does NOT mean hurting anyone's sentiments, be it religious, financial, nationality, social status etc., Creativity mean thinking something different, outside the box and presenting to the world to enjoy, to saviour, to feel good. If they have done wrong, let law takes it own course. No need to shed tears for them.
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kp Feb 24, 2021 11:40am
Amazon is a platform, while strict actions should be taken against Producer, Director and Cast.
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Chrís Dăn Feb 24, 2021 11:46am
I saulte such artists and producers,who dare to challange the darkness of mental illiteracy and bigotry through their enlightend approach of secularism.
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Zak Feb 24, 2021 11:51am
'The drama has also faced criticism from lawmakers of India’s Hindu nationalist ruling party.' The Nazi/RSS are in full swing thee police are their gestapo.
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Zak Feb 24, 2021 11:51am
India, a nation in dangerous decline.
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Proud Indian Feb 24, 2021 12:04pm
BJP and RSS thugs did the same thing with the Padamvat team. They try to blackmail every Director and Producer, so no one says or shows any of their wrongdoings through media. Our neighbor country Pakistan is moving ahead of this, because of their good policies. Shame on BJP
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Paddy Feb 24, 2021 12:07pm
Leftists and anti-nationals will have to face the music.
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Firdous Feb 24, 2021 12:17pm
@Zak "India, a nation in dangerous decline" Then be happy, enjoy a party, do you have money?
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Rashid Feb 24, 2021 12:18pm
Nation of scammers.
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ahay Feb 24, 2021 12:25pm
Its crazy that these guys create this hype for marketing their products. Like depicting godesses in nude or obscene manner. MF Hussain was another guy who did this. There is a thin line between belief and commerce and free media should understand this line!! As a society is economically prosperous this line can be modified. For most time...for the economically weaker ...belief is all that they have to cling to.
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Mushahid Feb 24, 2021 12:26pm
Modi is undoing Indian puzzle piece by piece!
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Ajaz Feb 24, 2021 12:34pm
India is powerless against the west. This is just a drama.
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Teddy Feb 24, 2021 12:36pm
Compared to Pakistan....India is still a million times better.
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FAK Feb 24, 2021 12:47pm
@Zak - Really. Remove your glasses and observe which country is sinking and which one flying high.
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Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad Feb 24, 2021 12:48pm
What else could be expected of the biggest false, feign, sham, shame, frail, feint and fraud democracy in the world under racist, liar, prejudiced, bigot, wicked and biased Modi and his fascist, corrupt, cunning, crooked, cruel and criminal R.S.S. and BJP cronies called Republic of India?
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Dr. Madhusudhan Reddy Tokala Feb 24, 2021 01:10pm
:)
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Parminder Feb 24, 2021 01:12pm
@Zak "India, a nation in dangerous decline." Unlike people of certain community who resort to violence, no one was beheaded because of this webseries.
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thelostsoul Feb 24, 2021 01:17pm
@Zak not in your life time !
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NYS Feb 24, 2021 01:23pm
Freedom of godesses an uproaring fad
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M. Saeed Feb 24, 2021 02:18pm
@Mushahid, when India has Modi for it's enemy, what reason do we have to also consider Indian people as our enemies?
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M. Saeed Feb 24, 2021 02:19pm
@Zak , India is it's own enemy.
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Raju Feb 24, 2021 02:39pm
@Chrís Dăn , I saulte such artists and producers,who dare to challange the darkness of mental illiteracy and bigotry.... Good to know, by the way do you have the same opinion on Charlie Hebdo or there are different standards?
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Vivek1sinha1 Feb 24, 2021 03:01pm
@Chrís Dăn - Forgot about France incident so soon. Not good to have so much short memory
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G H A L I B J E E E Feb 24, 2021 03:15pm
India Today is Not even better then India Yesterday, which was by far the Worst of them All.
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AHB Feb 24, 2021 03:31pm
@Tamza Why? If you don't agree with the comment/content don't listen/watch it. Why should your being offended supersede my right to speak?
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Praveen Feb 24, 2021 03:41pm
Better than killing the artists/media like in France and Bangladesh..
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Not a bhakt Feb 24, 2021 04:05pm
@Paddy Why shouldn’t rightists and fascists not face the music?
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Khalil Feb 24, 2021 04:34pm
I bet most people complain about the movie haven't even seen it. I watched from start to finish and there is no derogatory religious content whatsoever. Characters playing as police are hilarious....must watch for everyone.
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Vivek1sinha1 Feb 24, 2021 04:40pm
@G H A L I B J E E E - Why don't you check what you are better at - Seeking loans?
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Vivek1sinha1 Feb 24, 2021 04:41pm
@M. Saeed - Don't worry. Modi knows how well to treat its enemies.
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Divaksr Feb 24, 2021 05:27pm
@Chrís Dăn what do you think of those stone age barbarians who beheaded Daniel Perl?
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saksci Feb 24, 2021 06:35pm
I am glad Amazon which spent billions of dollars in India harassed by right wing Hindu government; it is not a free country to do business just a myth.
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RationalBabu Feb 24, 2021 07:11pm
@Chrís Dăn does the same apply to Pakistan?
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Ibrahim S Feb 24, 2021 07:11pm
Modi must learn to digest his popularity , it will backfire soon. It’s happening now
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RationalBabu Feb 24, 2021 07:12pm
@Mushahid what was the puzzle?
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RationalBabu Feb 24, 2021 07:16pm
@M. Saeed so there is no need for you, you may retire peacefully!
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RationalBabu Feb 24, 2021 07:19pm
@G H A L I B J E E E is your opinion of any value?
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Ibrahim S Feb 24, 2021 07:45pm
@Proud Indian - Bigotry is contagious as well. Blasphemy Hindu style .
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